A Change In Him
by ScruffyEars
Summary: This begins on Lily's last day at Hogwarts. During the summer she doesn't give much thought to how James acted on the last day but she believes it was just that: an act. What will she think when she comes back to Hogwarts for her last and final year and realizes that there really was a change in him?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! So this is my first fanfic. Please review but go easy on me. I'd like to know if this was a good start or not.

I don't own Harry Potter and I'm glad I don't. I would've written it differently and that would've been a bad thing because it couldn't of been written any better. J. K. Rowling is the best!

Chapter Uno

"Hey, Lily." A voice came from behind me.

"Potter." I huffed.

"Mind if I sit here?" He gestured the seat next to me.

"Oh, no. Not at all. It's not like I hate you or anything." I muttered rolling my eyes.

"Great!" he sat down.

I looked over at him. His black hair was as messy as usual. His hazel eyes were full of joy behind his round glasses. He was quite skinny but very tall. "I was being sarcastic. Move!"

"Okay, class, let's begin with today's lesson." announced Professor McGonagall.

_Great, _I thought. An entire class having to sit next to James Potter; the biggest prat ever!

Today's lesson had to do with having to turn a goblet into a cat then into a rat and then back into a goblet only then the goblet had to be filled with pumpkin juice. I had to admit, I was pretty nervous. Transfiguration was my least favorite subject. It had nothing to do with McGonagall. She and I got along just fine. She was actually one of my favorite professors. I just hated her subject. It was my weakest area and I wasn't getting any better. Worse than that, Potter was the best in the school and now he was probably going to gloat. I swear I'd wipe that seemingly permanent smirk off his face if he did. In fact…

I grabbed my wand out of my bag. We were going to need it anyway. I sat in my stood and waited for McGonagall's speech to end. She finally allowed us to try the assignment after having to take many notes. And all the while, I was surprised to see that Potter had been calmly quiet the entire time.

The class erupted in chatter as many attempted the assignment while others talked to their friends. The only reason I wasn't talking was because my best mate was on the other side of the classroom. Ever since Alice began dating Frank Longbottom she really hasn't been around much. Her and frank seemed to be madly in love and their relationship didn't seem to be coming to an end anytime soon.

"Need help, Lily?" I looked away from Alice to meet Potter's eyes. He was leaning on our desk and was sipping his pumpkin juice out of his goblet. How did he finish so quickly?

Wait, was he mocking me? I was about to hex him when I took a second look into him clear hazel eyes. There wasn't a hint of laughter in his eyes.

I sighed. It seemed to be the only thing I could do. "Yeah."

He smiled a genuine smile and set his goblet down. "You know the incantation, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, let's try it out and see what it is that you're doing wrong."

For the rest of the class, Potter helped me and advised me of what I should do and how I should do it. It took a few tries but I finally managed to get my goblet of pumpkin juice.

"There you go!" Potter said grinning.

"Thanks. Especially for having patience with me." I said sincerely.

"You're quite welcome, Lily." He said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start calling me 'Lily'?"

He shrugged. "A while back."

"I hadn't noticed." I admitted.

The bell rang and everyone cheered. This had been the last class period of this semester. It was our last day here at Hogwarts. Everyone was excited yet disappointed that another year had gone by and it was time again for summer.

"Well, I guess it's time for dinner." Potter hesitated. "Can I walk you?"

I thought for a second. And with a glance at Alice and Frank I made up my mind. "Sure."

He smiled and picked up his bag. "Let's go leave our stuff first, yeah?"

I nodded. "Let's go."

We left the classroom and once outside I questioned him. "So, what are you going to do this summer?"

Then he went on and on about all the different things he and his best mates Sirius and Remus were going to do. In fact, he didn't stop talking. We made it to the Gryffindor common room and set out bags down by a couch and exited. We made our way to the great hall and I saw that Alice and Frank were sitting close to each other whispering. I wasn't mad at Alice for ditching me. I understood that her and Frank wanted to have some time together before the summer break.

I sighed again for the fiftieth time today. "Can I sit with you?" I interrupted Potter.

His eyes lit up a bit. "Of course."

It wouldn't be that bad. Potter was being okay, Remus was my friend, and Peter (one of Potter's mates.) was okay too. He was friendly but he also seemed tense most of the time. The only person I was concerned about was Sirius Black. He was almost exactly like Potter. He was an arrogant player. He was also very annoying and loved to annoy me especially only because Potter did. These four boys made up a group called the Marauders.

We got to the Marauder part of the Gryffindor table and sat.

Remus greeted me kindly. His sandy hair was as neat and long as it always was. He was very tall. Taller than Potter even. He had those bright blue puppy eyes that all the girls loved, but Remus didn't date.

Peter squeaked a 'hi'. He was a short blonde boy with watery dull blue eyes. He was always the one that trailed along behind that Marauders glory.

Black, however, raised an eyebrow at me and grinned at Potter. Sirius Black had long black hair and (I had to admit.)cool looking grey eyes. He was just as tall as Potter.

"Finally got in her knickers, Prongs?" he asked.

I saw Potter roll his eyes at Black before starting a conversation with Remus.

The Marauders all referred to each other by their nicknames. Potter was Prongs, Black was Padfoot, Remus was Moony, and Peter was Wormtail. I had no idea where they had come up with all these nicknames. Black once told me that Remus was Moony because he liked to go walking in crowded areas and mooning random people. I knew this wasn't true. (Obviously.) Black just liked making up tales. What bothered me was how he told them. He would tell his stories like they were true and didn't smirk. He kept a straight face and expected everyone to believe him. Some of the first years would.

"So, Evans, what brings you here to our lovely group?" he asked.

I snorted. "Lovely?" I turned to Remus and Peter. "No offense, Remus. Peter."

Peter nodded back a bit too enthusiastically. "S' okay." Remus said.

I turned back to Black. "I'm letting Alice have some time alone with Frank."

"Ah, the lovebirds." He said looking towards Alice.

I was glad he hadn't said anything perverted like I expected.

"So, Lily, I forgot my manners down the hall and-"

Black's snort interrupted Potter. Forget what I said about him not being perverted.

Potter sent him a look and continued. "-I forgot to ask you what you were up to this summer."

"Oh, I'm not sure. My family has the habit of never planning anything."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, what do you mean? Were you not planned, Evans?" Black added.

I ignored Black and answered Remus. "We just never plan. One day my dad could suggest going to France and the next day we'll find ourselves in France."

"What about your personal plans?" Potter asked.

"Well, I'm definitely gonna try to enjoy my last summer with my parents. After school next year I'm gonna try to move out. I'd really like to live alone now. Just to give it a try, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about moving out too." Remus said.

"Well, I have nowhere else to go. I don't really have much of a choice." Black said. He thought for a second. "Well, I guess I could go buy my own house out somewhere until my family dies. Then, I could have the house."

I felt bad for Black. He lived with Potter because he had finally had enough of his crazy Death Eater family.

"Come on, Padfoot, you know my mum would never let you move out." Potter said.

"Yeah, that's what I meant by not having much of a choice. Anyway, I like your home. And your parents are practically mine too." Black said.

Suddenly, everyone became silent as the headmaster got up for his speech.

"Another memorable year at Hogwarts has passed and I look at each of you and hardly believe this is the same bunch from the beginning of the term. You have all grown, not only in appearance, but also in knowledge. I have trust that each of you has tried so hard this year to achieve. Whether it was for academics, Quidditch, wisdom, strength, love, entertainment (I couldn't help but notice that he sent a smile in our direction. No doubt, for the Marauders. I saw them all grin back.) or anything else I might've forgotten. I bit you all farewell and good luck with that growth. Now, let us begin our delicious feast."

Food appeared on the tables as the headmaster sat. Everyone began piling up their plates and started to stuff themselves.

"Hey." I turned and saw Alice.

"Hey, Alice, what are you doing here? Don't you want to spend time with Frank?"

"He went to catch up with his friends before the train ride." She sat down.

"Hello, Alice." Remus greeted her.

"Hi, Remus." She answered.

And that was it for the conversation. We all lapsed into a comfortable silence as we ate. I was glad Alice hadn't asked why I had come to eat with the Marauders when I had plenty of other friends I could've joined. I had no I idea how I could've answered that if she had asked.

"Wow, that food gets better each day." Black commented when we made it to the common room.

"Yuh huh." Alice agreed. "Well, goodnight, you guys. I guess I'll see all of you on the train tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight, Alice." Remus said. "Goodnight, Lily."

"Goodnight, Alice. Goodnight, Lily." Peter said quickly.

They both made their way up the boys' staircase.

"'Night, ladies." Black winked, following them.

Alice went up the girls' stairs without answering them.

I turned around to see that Potter was still there.

"So, this is the last night here for the sixth time." He joked.

"Yeah, I guess so." I answered.

"It never gets easy. I mean, I know we're coming back later in the year, but during the break you can't help but wish you were here."

"You have no idea how much I get you. My older sister hates me so she tries to make my summers miserable." I had never told anybody. Not even Alice. Alice always enjoyed herself during the summer. I could never make her understand. Even if I did tell her about my sister, she'd only tell me to ignore her.

"Why does she hate you?"

"She thinks I'm a freak and that I shouldn't exist. She says I'm not beautiful and don't have a single lovely trait about me. She says I'm gonna die at a young age because I have no life." I laughed bitterly. "She hates me."

Potter approached me. "Well, that shouldn't bother you."

"You don't understand! She's my sister! Of course it's gonna bother me."

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant something that is so far from the truth shouldn't bother you. You know it's not true so you shouldn't believe it. You are very beautiful, Lily. Not just in looks. Your heart and personality is something everybody wishes to have. You know why? Because a heart like yours is easy to fall in love with. It's so loving and pure. Something many people can only dream of. And you have it, Lily. Everybody can see it. I bet your sister can see it too. She's just trying to convince herself that she's better. She probably wants to be you. You're smart, beautiful, graceful, loving and kind. You are the type of person everyone wishes to be."

I blinked. "You really think that?" my voice came out in a whisper.

He grinned. "Lily, if I didn't believe that I don't think I could've ever fallen in love-" he stopped. "Well, I know that to be the truth." He paused. "Goodnight, Lily."

"Wait, Potter."

He went to the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow." He went up.

"James!"

He stopped. He turned around and cocked his head to the side a bit. "Did you just call me 'James'?"

"I-I think so."

He came down the stairs again. He stopped in front of me. He had a soft smile on his face. His eyes were so bright and full of life. "Yes, Lily?"

"What were you going to say? You started saying something after I asked you if you really believed what you had said. You started to say it then you stopped."

He looked a bit nervous. "Never mind."

I could tell he was about to leave so I grabbed his upper arm. "Tell me."

"It-I." he ran a hand through his messy black hair and sighed in frustration. "I was gonna say that I-I am in love with you?" It came out as a question.

I nodded once. "That's what I thought you were going to say. Well, Goodnight, Potter."

"Yeah, goodnight, Lily." He murmured.

I went to sleep that night thinking of what James had told me.

When I fell asleep that night I dreamt of a graceful stag that followed me in the Forbidden Forest. At first I thought the stag was being territorial, but when I turned around to look at him, I was surprised to see that he was only about a foot away. I gasped. He looked at me right in the eye. Something about his calm hazel eyes soothed me. I reached up a hand and stroked his neck slowly. He closed his eyes and allowed me to continue stroking him. The last thing I remembered was lying my head on the stag's neck as I slowly and peacefully fell asleep.

Please Review. If I get at least two good reviews I'll write the next chapter. (And then I'll figure out how to add a chapter) Let me know if there's anything I need to add.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, guys, I promised that if I got two good reviews than I would write the next chapter. So, here it is! A special thanks to my two readers: JessandDarcy and Cassia4u

This chapter would not have been possible without you two.

Again, I do not own Harry Potter. A wonderful writer named J. K. Rowling does.

Chapter Dos

"Alice, please, just a few more minutes!" I yelled into my pillow.

"No, Lily! You have to get ready now! I gave you thirty more minutes so get up!" I heard her respond. I could hear her rushing back and forth across the room getting ready. I didn't see the point. We still had about an hour until breakfast and we still had about a couple more hours after than until we had to get on the Hogwarts Express.

I groaned and finally got up. "You did not give me thirty minutes of sleep!" I protested.

Alice turned and looked at me. "Uh, yeah I did, Lily."

"No, you did not, Alice. You tried waking me up for the past thirty minutes."

She turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was already in uniform and her hair was perfectly straight. Her reflection showed someone I saw every day: My gorgeous best friend. She never saw the girl that I saw. She always told me about how plain she was. I always argued when she told me any statement related to that. It was so far from the truth.

Alice Prewett was very beautiful. She had beautiful, anti-frizz, caramel colored hair. It was so straight and she barely ever had a hair out of place. Her eyes were a warm brown. She always had a hint of gold in them. They always had a shine when she was out in the sun (Or when she was thinking of something devious). She had high cheek bones and rosy colored cheeks. A thin face that went well with her thin figure. Even though she a bit taller than the average 16 year old, she was still considered a delicate princess in minds of many guys. Too bad for them, Alice was with Frank.

And Alice envied me?

I never really understood why. Then, last night came to mind.

I quickly wiped that thought away and listened to what Alice said.

"Well, it's not like it's easy to wake you up." She grumbled.

I yawned and finally stood from where I was perched on the side of my bed. I went straight to the loo and showered. When I got out in my towel, I saw that Alice was still unbelievably getting ready. She ran a brush through her hair, desperately looking for any knots she might've missed. I rolled my eyes. It was no use telling her that she looked fine. I looked around our room and noticed that our other three room mates were already gone.

"When did the other three leave?"

I saw Alice roll her eyes. "Some time during the time I spent trying to wake you up."

Alice got annoyed too easily. But I guess I shouldn't be talking.

I quickly brushed my hair and went back into the loo with my clothes to get changed. When I came out Alice was just starting to pull her socks on. I did the same and pulled my shoes on as soon as I found them under my bed.

"Come on, Alice." I said standing next to the door with my hand on the handle. She gave one last glance into the mirror and finally hurried over to me.

"Let's go." She agreed.

We went down to the common room and saw that there weren't many people. But that was expected. Most people would go straight down to the Great Hall and talk with friends from different houses. Alice and I left the common room as soon as we saw that none of our friends were there. We arrived at the Great Hall and looked up and down the Gryffindor table and finally spotted our group.

Only today, our group was mixed in with the Marauders.

"Hey, what happened here?" Alice said voicing my thoughts.

I saw Frank shrug his shoulders. "Friendly reunion?"

Alice and I both sat down. I looked around the table and tried to memorize the faces of my friends that I would not see for the summer.

There was Clair Donovan: The Gryffindor beauty. You'd expect someone as beautiful as her to be snobby. But she wasn't she was fun and friendly. Her hair was a honey blonde without a trace of brunette in it. Her eyes were a cool, clear, crystal blue. She was tall and very curvy. She was very popular and outgoing. She played chaser on the Gryffindor team. She was pretty good at it too. She was so into Quidditch and never seemed tired about talking about it. Not only was she athletic, but she was smart too. She was definitely in the top ten of very class.

Next to her was my other friend Natalie Bruno. She was pretty and smart too. She had the average height and wasn't too curvy, but guys were always talking about her bum. Her hair was a dark brunette and it was also layered. The longest part went all the way down to her mid-spine. Her eyes were a very light brown. She was one of those girls that seemed to have a flawless life. But since she was my best friend, I knew this was not true. Many of her family members had died. In fact, since first year I have had to comfort her a total of five times because of another passed family member. But over all, she was happy most of the time.

There was my other friend, Jennifer Peterson. She had curly black hair and blue eyes (That made her really stand out). She was always either happy or really hyper. Even in the mornings she was happy to get up and sing her lungs out in the shower. That would wake up the other girls and then either Alice or Clair would wake me up. I preferred Alice waking me up. Clair had a habit of flipping my mattress and then claim that she had been trying to wake me up forever. And to think, all of that started with Jennifer's singing. Not that she was a bad singer or anything. She actually had a pretty good voice, but it was also loud. I loved her, anyway.

Then, there was Frank Longbottom. His hair was a shade of brunette and his eyes were a warm chocolate brown. He was tall and thin and he had a small face. He even looked smart. He was a very friendly and out-going guy. He was everybody's friend. No one could ever hate him (except those stupid snobby Slytherins). Even when McGonagall was furious, she always seemed to cool down after talking to Frank a bit. He was just a guy that everybody wanted to be friends with. And he was one of those friends you were proud to have.

"Good morning, all." Alice said.

There was a chorus of "Morning". I had the luck of having to sit next to Black.

"Morning, love." He said pouring himself some pumpkin juice, not really bothering to look at me.

"Good morning, Black. Long night?" I asked piling some bacon and eggs on my plate.

"Ugh. You have no idea, love." He yawned.

"Let me guess…end of the year prank?"

He finally looked at me and gave me his classic mischievous grin. I couldn't help but chuckle. The Marauders grinned like that so often that it seemed like they themselves invented mischievous.

"Lily, will you pass the juice?" Potter asked me.

I mentally sighed. I couldn't ignore him forever.

I grabbed the pitcher and passed it to him. He caught my eye and grinned. I smiled back and tried not to think of his words from the previous night. I knew that if I did, I would blush. I couldn't understand why. It wasn't like I liked him. I wasn't even sure he was an acquaintance.

Suddenly, there was a loud 'boom'. I looked at the Marauders, wide-eyed. They all grinned back.

"What did you guys do now?" Clair said rolling her eyes.

"You better not have blown the side of the school off." Jennifer warned.

"Just wait." Potter said chuckling.

There were shrieks coming from the corridors. I was about to ask who that was when the doors of the Great Hall opened. In came some frightened looking Slytherins. There was Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucious Malfoy, Severus Snape, and a few more after them. Behind them was a huge cluster of fireworks. They chased the screaming Slytherins to the Slytherin table. But the fireworks didn't stop there they chased the Slytherins around the Great Hall at least five times before McGonagall came in. The fireworks shot up straight into the air and exploded like any normal firework would. McGonagall watched for a minute and turned to look in our direction. Every single Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor was laughing their arses off. I swore I saw McGonagall's lips twitch upward a bit. She thought the fireworks were harmless enough so she left them. Either that or she knew the Marauders had put a multiplying spell on them.

I turned to look at the four boys once McGonagall had seated herself.

"How long did that take you guys?" I asked.

"Five minutes to think of it. A couple hours of setting it up, though." Remus replied. He had a soft smile on his face. That didn't fool me for a second. That smile could fill itself up with mischief in seconds.

"As soon as the professors leave, they start chasing the Slytherins again." Potter said proudly.

"I wish Reg a horrible day." Black said stealing a glance towards his younger brother at the Slytherin table.

I turned to look and saw that the Slytherins were sending glares our way.

"Watch this." Clair said to us all.

She looked straight at Bellatrix. After Bellatrix caught her eye she glared at Clair with all her might. Clair shrugged and flicked her off. We all burst out laughing at the look of pure rage on Bellatrix's face. I high-fived Clair and Black hollered "You go, babe".

Clair inclined her head at Black in a small bow. Other Gryffindors that had seen what she did were cheering her on. She raised her two hands in a thank you gesture.

We ate our breakfast happily laughing and joking with one another. In my mind it was a great way to end the school year.

Then it was time to go. We were led outside and got onto the carriages. We managed to fit all ten of us into one carriage. We laughed the entire way enjoying the slow ride. We said our goodbyes to the castle as we managed to get one more glimpse of it before we made a turn and the castle was out of sight. We were laughing so much that we hardly realized that it would be the last time we would see the castle until school started again.

We boarded the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment. A compartment could fit six of us in the seats. So, we argued a bit over who would have to sit in the floor. Then, Remus pointed out that a good gentleman would let the girls sit in the seats. So the other three Marauders immediately jumped up and volunteered to sit in the floor.

Later after about what seemed like hours, Remus got up and informed us that he was going to go say good bye to other friends. A few of us got up too. That left Black, Potter, and Jennifer and I.

"So, what are you up to this summer, Peterson, love?" Black asked Jennifer.

"Uh, I'm not sure. We might go to the beach in Italy. Speaking of which, Lily, I was gonna ask you if you'd like to go."

"I'm not sure. If my summers hell, then yeah, I'd like to go."

She grinned. "Great! 'Cause Mum was all like 'are you gonna take any friends?' and I was like 'I don't know, mum, should I?' and she was like 'yeah, I'd really like you to take Lily'. She really loves you which is good if I wanna have you over during the summer. I mean, isn't always better when your parents approve of your best friend? Not that I wouldn't sneak out of the house to hang out with you if my parents didn't like you, but it's much easier this way. Saves me the trouble of plotting. Anyway, mum said you can come over anytime you'd like which again is great. She thinks you're all goody-goody two shoes and all that-"

"Well, she is." I mentally praised Black for cutting her off.

"Uh, no she's not. You don't know her, Sirius. This one time, Alice and I had to drag Lily's drunk ass back to school-ow!" I had elbowed her right in the rib cage. Hard.

"Drunk? Evans?" Black snorted.

"She's really fun when you get to know her." Jenn said before I could stop her.

"Then maybe we should get to know her." Black said to Potter.

Potter grinned at me. "I think we could be great friends."

I smiled lightly at him.

The others came back in and Black couldn't help himself. "Lily got drunk!"

"What?" Frank asked looking at me with questioning eyes. I groaned and thumped my head against the window.

"Well, not now. I meant she's gotten drunk before. Isn't that amazing?"

Black had the spirit of a six year old.

"Yeah, you've gotten drunk too, Sirius. I don't know what you're so excited about." Alice said.

"Well, even I have to admit, I'm surprised." Remus said. His eyes were full of amusement.

"It was a long night when it happened." I defended myself.

The others only laughed. We talked so much and a few of us eventually started playing games. After watching Clair and Black snogging for quite a while after a game of spin the bottle, we quit playing and settled back down. Somehow after all of those games and the switch-ups and everything I ended up between Potter and the window. I was quiet, listening to the conversation of others.

"Hey, Lily." Potter said.

"Hey." I answered.

"Um, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have your address?"

"Why…?"I asked slowly and cautiously.

"I want to owl you over the summer…can I?"

I looked at Potter and saw that he was serious. I hesitated a bit, but I finally agreed. He smiled at me and I gave him a barely there smile back. I just hoped I didn't make a mistake.

Time seemed to go by faster than I would've liked. Not that I enjoyed Potter's company much. But I would've appreciated a bit more time with my friends.

We all found our luggage when we got off and tried looking for our families.

I said my sad good bye's to all my friends and saw my parents waving and smiling at me. I smiled back and started towards their direction.

"Wait, Lily!"

I turned and saw Potter rushing towards me. I stopped and waited for him to catch up. He finally got to me and ran a hand through his hair.

"So, I guess this is good-bye for the summer?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Well, remember what I said last night." And there was that blush I promised. "Don't let your sister get to you, okay? She just wants attention drawn towards her. I would know." He joked.

I chuckled a bit. "Yeah, you would know, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. But seriously, Lily, don't pay attention to her. Write to your friends if you have to. Write to me."

He looked a bit desperate. I nodded. "I will."

"I'll write to you as soon as I can. I promise. I'll get Moony to write to you too, if you'd like."

"Remus always writes to me." I pointed out.

"Right. Well, don't stress too much this summer, okay?"

"I won't" I promised. I would've laughed at Potter, but he looked to alarmed right now to joke with him.

"Well, good-bye, Lily."

"Bye." I gave him one last smile and continued toward my parents.

"Come on, Lily. I have a wonderful dinner waiting at home for you!" Mum said as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I missed you both so much." I said.

"We missed you too, Lils." Dad promised me. He pulled me into an even tighter hug than Mum's.

"Well, let's get going." Mum said. They walked ahead of me.

I turned and looked one last time and saw Potter. He was talking to a woman that resembled him. It must've been his mum. He said something to her. Then he turned and looked straight into my eyes. It was as if he knew I had been staring the whole time. I gave him another wave. He grinned and waved back. Before his mum could turn to see who he was grinning at I looked away and kept following my parents.

"Thanks, Mum, that was great." I thanked her for the dinner.

She smiled at me. "All for you, Lily."

After Dad volunteered to wash the dishes I went up to my room and sat on my bed. There was the crinkling sound of paper and I stood again. I grabbed the piece of paper I had sat on.

It was a letter with my name written on it in thin and a bit sloppy bit of handwriting.

I opened it. It read:

Dear Lily,

I hope your summer has been well so far. Mine hasn't. I miss you and Hogwarts.

Love, James

I laughed aloud. It had only been about a couple of hours since I had seen this boy and he was already writing. He was so ridiculous some times. But I realized that he could make me laugh.

I set the letter on my nightstand and laid back on my heap of pillows.

I guess giving Potter my address wasn't going to be a mistake after all.

Well, another chapter down. Hope you readers liked this one. Okay, this time just three good reviews and another chapter it is!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, chapter three, I got this!(Or so George Lopez said) Thanks to all readers out there. And a special thanks to all reviewers. I'm still not used to people reading my stories so I'm still kinda nervous about what you all think. Please excuse any spelling errors I may not notice for all you folks who find it annoying. So sorry.

I do not own anything that has to do with Harry Potter. That brilliant woman, J. K. Rowling does.

Chapter Tres

"Come on, Lily, you have to wake up. It's already past noon." My mother said for the tenth time.

I groaned. "Why does every body hate me?"

"Why do you think everyone hates you?" she said curiously.

"It seems like everyone doesn't want me to get any sleep. First Alice, then Clair, and now you." I grumbled.

"Lily, you've slept all night. So, up!"

At the word 'up' she pulled the sheets off of me. I groaned at the sudden light coming from the glass balcony doors. It lit up every corner of my room. To me it seemed quite intimidating; it seemed to dare any shadows to show itself. My room looked exactly as it did when I left it last summer.

The walls and the curtains were red. My bed sheets were also red only they had golden colored little flowers decorating it. The carpet was a light gold and the door and window frames were white. I didn't have any posters on my walls like all of the other teenage girls did. I was only here two months out of the year so I didn't the point in doing so. The only think I had on my wall was a painted portrait of a small town from back in the old days. I preferred art over any posters. My bare walls didn't make the room dull, though. The red walls and my tall and well filled bookshelf made sure of that.

Another fellow Gryffindor would've assumed that I was proud to be a Gryffindor. I was, but my room had always been the same ever since I was six and old enough to decide what my room should look like. Red had always been one of my many favorite colors. Something about the color just made me feels at home. The white and gold were to add more life and style.

"Come on, Lily, don't be a lazy bum!" My mum said from in front of my mirror. Ugh, this was exactly the same awakening Alice gave me. I finally sat up and saw my mum smile in satisfaction.

"Your father has already left for work. I'm about to leave at one. I just wanted you to be awake because you're going to be alone for a while until Petunia gets home. She went out with Vernon again." Mum explained.

"She can take her sweet time." I responded.

"Lily, why don't you have a boyfriend? I'd feel much better knowing you have someone to keep you company while we're all out."

"Because I have a life. Don't worry about it, mum. I think I'll go out. Maybe I could go to the mall. I need some summer clothes, anyway." I promised.

"Okay, then. Just be careful, sweetheart. I need to go now. If you get hungry, there are left overs in the fridge and you know how to cook in case you don't want leftovers." she walked towards the door. "And don't you dare go to sleep again. I swear, you're lazier than the cat."

I groaned. I was planning to get at least another hour of sleep before I left, but when my mother told me to do something, I always feel guilty about disobeying her. "Bye!" I called to her.

When I heard the front door slam shut, I finally got up and went to go shower. I dressed in a pair of denim shorts that reached my mid-thigh. I pulled on a red under shirt and finally slipped my feet into some sandals. I quickly brushed my hair and put some silver hoop earrings on. I was about to leave the room when I spotted the letter from Potter on my nightstand. I rolled my eyes and turned to my closet. I walked in and opened my trunk that I had carelessly pushed into a far corner the night before. I searched for a quill, ink, and some parchment.

I wrote the letter quickly but thoughtfully:

Dear Potter,

Yeah, my summer's been boring so far too. I miss Hogwarts but I don't miss Alice waking me up in the morning.

From, Lily

Short and sweet, just like his letter.

I sent my snowy owl, Marble, with the letter. Then, I finally left my room and ran downstairs. I wasn't hungry so I just grabbed an apple juice out of the fridge and went on my way. I patted my pocket one last time to make sure I had grabbed my money before finally leaving the house.

It wasn't such a long walk to the mall. It was probably only ten to fifteen minutes.

I finally arrived and did my shopping quickly. I wasn't too picky about what I chose out. I was probably not going to wear these clothes for the next summer. And I never really went anywhere important during my summer breaks.

I thought about the letter that I had sent to Potter. It had probably already gotten to him. When he had given me his address yesterday, I realized he didn't live that far away from where I lived. He lived on the other side of town where we rarely went; an ideal place for rich pureblooded wizards to live. I bet he dressed fancy. He was filthy rich, so of course he did. I wondered if he looked like the bloke who was staring at me.

A white button down shirt with long selves that were rolled up and black dress pants was how I imagined Potter looked like right now. Actually, I knew that this was exactly what Potter looked like. The staring bloke was James Potter himself. And next to him was his partner in crime, Sirius Black.

Potter was smirking at me while black was looking in a completely different direction. What they were doing here, I had no idea.

He gave me a small wave and that snapped me out of my shocked state. I gave a small wave back and his grin deepened. Black noticed that Potter was distracted and turned to see me.

Then he recognized me. "OI! EVANS! OVER HERE!" he started waving like the idiot I had always accused him of being.

I gave a small wave again so he would stop screaming across the mall. People were giving him funny looks. The women, however, recovered from their curiosity and noticed the ladies-man.

I rolled my eyes and waited for them to finally reach me. Black kept a quick, happy pace that reminded me of a puppy. Potter kept it cool and kept up with his friend's long strides.

"Evans! Long time no see!" Black said grinning.

"I'm right in front of you; you don't have to yell." I responded. Though, as hard as I tried, I could not keep an amused smile from my face.

"Hello, Lily." Potter said.

"Hi." I answered. "What are you doing here?"

"My mum told Padfoot and I to leave the house instead of staying at the house all day." He responded. "Good thing I listened." He added.

"Same here. My mum won't let me sleep for as long as I want." I said.

"Yeah, I would've gone to the park or something, but Padfoot here wants to go date-searching." He gestured at Black who was currently keeping his eyes on the legs of a blonde teenager that was walking by. He quickly looked at us as he felt our gaze.

"So, Evans, what did you buy?" Black said trying to get a glimpse at the shopping bags I had in my hands. I made an effort trying to hide the Victoria's Secret bag behind some others. He may be a wizard who had no clue about the muggle world, but I was sure he would recognize what store Victoria's Secret was.

I shrugged and answered him. "My summer clothes."

"Are you here with anybody?"

"No…" I answered him cautiously.

He pouted and I looked at Potter for an explanation.

"He was hoping you were with Clair." He said.

I looked at Black and grinned. "You like Clair?"

I thought he would blush, but he didn't. "Yeah, I like her. She a great friend. But she's also smoking hot and I know she'd make a really playful bedmate." He winked.

Ugh, the weird scary thing was that Clair's thoughts were exact.

"So, were you done?" Potter asked. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about shopping. He had a hopeful look in his eye.

"Yup." I confirmed.

"Oh," the hope was smashed, but knowing Potter, I knew I'd be back...and it was back. "Do you want to go to the park with Padfoot and I?"

For once in my life, I couldn't say no to him. "Sure, but I need to go leave my stuff at home. Can I meet you there?"

"Sure." Potter had a look on his face that made me believe he was going to pass out if he didn't get air soon.

As I was walking away, I heard Black say something. "You okay, mate?"

I arrived at the park. I still wasn't too sure that agreeing to meet Potter and Black was a good decision, but I was here. Too late to back out now. Luckily, when I had arrived home I had called Clair and she agreed to meet me at the park. Even better than that, Jennifer had been at her house and Clair said that she'd drag her along as well. I looked at my watch and then looked up. I searched for the two other girls. They had told me to meet me at the park entrance at three on the dot. It was three and I couldn't see them. I felt someone punch me in the back and turned to see Jenn grinning at me.

"Hey." I said, punching her back. I know, real lady-like.

"So, Lily, where are the other two?" Clair asked.

I shrugged. "Probably already in the park."

"Well, then, let's go!" Jenn said in the naturally loud voice.

We walked around the park a bit until we saw them sitting on a park bench. Only now, I saw someone else with them. It was Remus.

"Oh, you called for reinforcements too?" Black said staring at Clair and Jenn.

"Yup," I said simply. I looked at Remus. "Hey, Remus."

"Hello, ladies." He said to the three of us.

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked Jenn.

Potter shrugged. "Dunno, just hang out?"

"Lily! It's Alice! ALICE!" Clair suddenly screamed.

I turned to look and sure enough, there was the pretty brunette. Alice spotted us, paused, and finally grinned sprinting towards us. "Hey, guys! Is this some reunion you didn't tell me about?"

"Isn't this interesting?" Black said. "I guess we were meant to meet up." he winked at Clair and she rolled her eyes and smiled.

I spied the net bag Alice had over her shoulder. "Back from soccer practice?" I guessed.

"Try outs, actually." She said noticing my gaze.

"Hey, why don't we play?" Jenn said excited.

Clair nodded. "We should."

"Ugh, but I'm tired." Alice protested.

"Then you can be referee." I said.

"Okay, then." She said.

"Wait, what's soccer?" Black said at last.

"Oh, right, you've never played." Clair remembered.

Jenn and Clair began to explain the rules and the positions of the game and every now and then Alice would tell them what they shouldn't do if you didn't want to get a foul. The three wizards seemed excited to play. Well, they were about to find out just how fun it could be.

We played boys against the girls, of course. And yes, there were protests from Black. But he seemed to catch on that no matter what he said, we wouldn't listen.

Playing soccer with the three wizards turned out to be the most entertaining thing ever. They were actually pretty good after a few warming up minutes and they had this very good strategy: comedy. All they had to do when we had the ball was shout out the most unheard of curses and we would no doubt laugh. This turned out to be very helpful to them when Jenn had the ball. Once Jenn stated laughing you couldn't stop her for a while. We were tied with a score of four to four when we decided to quit.

"That was great!" Black said enthused. "Not as good as Quidditch, though."

I rolled my eyes. To Black and Potter, Quidditch was always at the top of the list for almost everything.

I looked at my clock and noticed how late it was. Somehow, it was already seven. I guess time did go by when you were having fun.

"Okay, well, I need to get home now." I announced.

Jenn, Clair and Alice protested, but I ignored them.

"Bye!" I called over my shoulder.

"See ya!" they called back.

I walked the five minute walk to my house and announced my arrival "I'm home!"

My mum poked her head out from the kitchen. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I went shopping and met Alice and some other friend and the park." I explained my late arrival.

"Oh, good, sweetheart. I thought you were going to rush through shopping to come home and sleep." She said.

"Hey, Lils." My dad greeted me when I entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Daddy." I greeted him back.

I went over to the sink and washed my hands.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a few people from school." I said knowing where this was going.

"What kind of friends?"

"Guys and girls, dad." I said grinning at him.

"Who?" my mum said joining in.

"Alice, Jenn, Clair, Remus, Sirius, and James." I finally said.

"Are those young boys attractive in any way?" my mum asked grinning.

I rolled my eyes. "Mum, Remus is a friend, Sirius is a player, and James…"

My dad looked alarmed for a second. "…is just James." I finished.

"Okay, then, Lily." My mum said still grinning.

I rolled my eyes and we ate dinner.

"Where's Petunia?" I asked when we had finished.

"She went out to eat with Vernon." My dad grumbled. He never really liked Vernon. Nor did my mum, but she never showed it.

"Well, goodnight, then." I said.

"Goodnight." They responded.

I went up to my room and found a letter from Potter on my bed again.

I opened it and read:

Dear Lily,

I feel like I haven't seen you in too long. Maybe we could meet…?

I have just learned this new game called soccer. I'd really like to play with you sometime. So what so you say? Friday around two at the park?

Love, James

I grinned. Bloody idiot could make me cheery when he wrote.

I fell on my bed and fell asleep, this time with the letter safely under my pillow.

That night, I dreamt of my beautiful stag companion again. I fell into a web of love and comfort as I stared into his bright hazel eyes. He looked quite happy to have met me again. He led me into a beautiful meadow so full of life. He nestled himself into a green patch of grass and looked up at me. The invitation was clear. I nestled in right next to him and looked up into the starry night sky. The last thing that I saw, however, were the stag's eyes.

Hazel…

Dear Readers,

So, what did you think? Please review this story. The more reviews I get, the more inspired I am to write.

Thank you, all!

Lots of Love,

Scruffy


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry to all of you readers out there. I've been busy and I haven't gotten much time on the computer. Actually, I had no computer time. But, I'm trying, I promise. Again, I'm sorry to have kept all of you waiting.

Okay, so now we're at chapter four. All I have gotten are good reviews. That's great! I didn't expect people to like my story. Thank you to all you readers out there and thank you to all of my reviewers: Haruhi-chan131, emilylovessiriusblack, JessandDarcy, Cassia4u, Eylia Riddle, and Gryffindor's RosePetal. I appreciate all of your reviews so much.

Since I have no imagination, I am sorry to say that I'm gonna rush through Lily's summer. Sorry for any readers that like the bonding that's happening between the Marauders and Lily and her friends. I have more ideas for Lily and James when they're in Hogwarts.

So, once again, I do not own anything. J. K. Rowling is the rightful owner of this. I own few characters in the story, but most belong to Joe.

Chapter Quatro

It was Friday already. This first week had gone by pretty quickly. I had woken up by myself today so I considered it a small victory. It was one in the afternoon, but I was still awake. It was good enough for me.

I stretched out my legs and arms and thought about today's events. I was supposed to go to the post office for my dad. Then later, I was to go buy the meat at the mart. My dad had decided it was the perfect day to have a barbecue. He thought that today would be good because I was leaving.

I knew that my previous plans involved going to play more soccer with the other guys, but we had gotten a call from my aunt on Tuesday. She had gotten a new job, but she didn't know what to do with my six year old cousin. (Or was she seven?) Then, on Wednesday my mother, being the pity taker, called my aunt and said that I could babysit for most of the summer until she found someone else.

Anyway, even if that hadn't happened I wouldn't have been able to go to the park. I had gotten a letter from Jennifer. She was already leaving for Italy. I had explained to her the situation I was in and she was disappointed that I couldn't go. I told her she should take Clair, so she did. She was probably at the airport right now. Then, I had gotten a letter from Remus. He had told me that they were not going to be able to go because Black had gotten sick. Now I knew better than to think that a little sickness could keep the great Sirius Black down. Then, the letter later explained that Black did want to go, but Mrs. Potter had told him not to. And when Mrs. Potter told you to do something, you did it. And you did it perfectly. Or she would break out her auror interior on you. I had to laugh. The way he wrote about her made it seem like he was afraid of her. I bet they all were. And it didn't come as a surprise that she was a serious woman.

Whenever Potter was told not to do something, it made him want to do it even more. It was just that annoying part of him that insisted on everything. Or at least that's what he said. I was sure that he had gotten the way he was because of his mother. After many years of being told to behave, he resisted on the inside and he released that at Hogwarts. I wondered how difficult it was to live with the two. I suddenly felt bad for Potter's father.

So now, I had to get up and go to the post office. I quickly got ready and left. I wanted to get it over with. I didn't hate the post office. It was just that today was a very hot day. I wanted to spend the least time as possible outside. In fact, to make the trip faster, I was going on my bike.

*Forty-five minutes later*

Okay, well it wasn't that hot. But it was going to get hotter later. I was sure of it. After I left the post office, I had gone to the market to go get the meat. Well, now I had nothing to do but wait. And it was quite depressing. Especially in the heat. It was only two o' clock. So, I did wait. I watched TV for a while until I remembered our summer assignments from Hogwarts. I went upstairs to my room and got started on my potions work. It wasn't too hard and somehow I finished it pretty quickly. All that was left was History of Magic, Charms, and Transfiguration. Nobody ever did History of Magic homework. Professor Binns never asked us to turn it in when we were back, anyway. So I quickly got my Charms homework done. It was too difficult. Just a few quick spells like the Shrinking Charm and such. It was now four-thirty and my parents wouldn't be home at least until six. I couldn't lie to myself. I was hoping I would've been done by then. I didn't want to do my Trans homework. I knew it would be hard. Not only was it asking turned something into another something but it was also asking under what circumstances, how to transform it and other details like that. (It was confusing, right?) Why must you do this to me McGonagall?

Then I had an idea. And that idea was Potter.

*One letter and thirty minutes later*

There was a knock on the door. I opened it and there was Potter. Yeah, I could've gotten Remus to come over, but Potter was 'The Master' at Trans.

"Hey." I said.

He smiled. "Hey."

I let him in the house without another word. I didn't know what to say. In the past, if I had asked Potter for help he would've had a smartass comeback. Now, he was being okay.

"Hey, Lily, I was hoping you could help me with some of my Charms homework if that's okay with you."

He said this without facing my direction. I shrugged. "Sure." I didn't mean to brag, but I was 'The Master' for Charms. Anyway, I didn't see any harm in helping him.

I led him to the kitchen and we got started. We quickly got through his Charms homework. When I was helping him I tried to ignore the fact that this was the great James Potter. The boy who had bullied everyone, asked me out, and played pranks on me and my friends. Instead, I focused on his homework.

"You're really good at this, Lily. I don't get it much, but I definitely understand it more now." He said to me.

I tried to ignore his eyes boring into me. "I don't know why but I find this really easy. It's like with Transfiguration. It just comes naturally to me."

"So, where's everybody?" he asked.

"My parents are at work and my sister is with her fiancé." I answered.

"So, have you been okay?"

"Yeah, everything's been fine so far." I knew he was asking about Petunia.

"You sister…?"

"I haven't seen her at all." I answered without looking up at him.

"Oh." He said simply.

"Yeah, well, do you know what this does?" I gestured to one of the spells in the books and he immediately answered.

"That is the simplest of ten spells to grow things. You can usually use it for plants and stuff."

"The simplest?" I asked worried. "Of ten?"

He smiled. "It not as difficult as it sounds. Here's a good way to remember them all and what they do…"

We studied for a while and the time went by faster than expected. But we didn't just study. We talked to each other about almost anything. He mostly asked about what a few things were around the kitchen. Things like the microwave and refrigerator.

"So where do you keep your food?" I questioned.

"The cellar; it's freezing down there. I feel sorry for the house elves."

"Oh, we have one too. My dad uses it for wine and such." I answered.

"We keep the wine deep into the cellar. We only get it out at least once every two weeks or so. Until then, we drink the other kind of wine."

I knew that by "the other kind" he meant cheaper wine. I remembered that he was rich.

"Of course, Padfoot sneaks one out at least every five days or so." He chuckled.

I laughed too. Black could never stay away from fine wine.

Then, suddenly the front door opened and I heard my mum call out "Lily, I'm home!".

"Uh…" Potter said nervously.

I was more nervous than him. My mother had a habit of embarrassing me in front of anyone. I just hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

She finally came into the kitchen. She didn't notice Potter at first. She went straight to the stove and put a pot of water on the fire. She always made coffee when she got home. I never really understood why.

"Luckily there wasn't any traffic. Yesterday, on the other hand, was…" she shook her head.

She turned around and finally saw Potter. "Oh…"

Before I could jump in, Potter stood up. "Hello, you must be Mrs. Evans. I'm James Potter. A friend of Lily's from school."

Well, I wouldn't say friend, but…

The way Potter had said that…it sounded like pure class. I had never heard him sound so proper. I expected him to kiss her hand at any moment now.

And it immediately won my mother over.

"Oh, yes. You were with Lily in the park Sunday." She said taking his outstretched hand. She smiled warmly at him.

"Yes, ma'am, I was." He said respectfully.

That immediately made my mother blush. "Please, call me Katherine."

"Okay." He said. He even made 'okay' sound proper. I swear, where was his white horse? And his suit?

"I was just helping Lily with some homework." He explained.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm sorry if I interrupted." She gave me a look and I rolled my eyes behind Potter's back.

"That's okay, mum. We're done. We were just talking." I said. Potter turned around and looked at me. Don't think I didn't notice you distracting me, I thought. My mom gave me another look behind Potter's back and waggled her eyebrows at him. I sent her a small glare.

"Well, James, why don't you join us? We're having a lovely barbeque for Lily today. I'm sure she told you about her aunt?" my mum asked.

"Oh, yes she told me. And I don't want to be a bother." He said sounding professional.

"No! You're no bother at all! I insist you stay. Won't you?" she gave him a winning smile and he smiled back.

"Maybe just for a bit." He said.

"Great!" my mum all, but punched the air in victory. I rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking.

Potter grinned at me and I immediately felt annoyed. I couldn't help it; that had been my reaction to him for six years now. I told myself to calm down. He was actually acting way better than he would at school. I knew it was just an act, but even so, it was way better than the usual Potter.

My mum left the kitchen and Potter spoke up. "So, when are you getting back from you aunts' house?"

"I'm not. My aunt is gonna drive me to the Platform in September." Okay, so I was lying. But I didn't want him coming back on the last day of August to see me. I was determined to have a Potter-free summer. Or at least for the rest of it.

"Oh, well, I'll see you at school then?" he looked a bit disappointed for a second, but it quickly disappeared.

"Yeah, sure." I agreed. I tried to keep the happy tone out of my voice. (As much as he deserved it.)

From the hallway, I heard the front door open and I knew that it was my dad. "I'm home!" he called.

"In here, Daddy!" I called back.

I heard him come down the hall and he entered the kitchen. He looked tired, but happy to be home. I walked around the counter and to him and gave him a hug.

"Hey, Lils." He greeted me. When I pulled away he had a smile on his face. Then he noticed Potter and his smile twitched. I almost laughed aloud. I hated Potter, but I loved picking on my dad.

"This is James Potter." I said to him. I felt satisfied that I had beat Potter to it. Child-ish, I know, but it was worth it.

My dad walked over to Potter and seemed to size him up a bit. I noticed that Potter was about an inch taller than my dad. Damn it.

My dad held out a hand to Potter. "James Potter, huh?" my dad asked.

Potter took his hand and shook it saying 'yes, sir'. It could've been my imagination, but I thought I saw a hint of nervousness in his bright hazel eyes.

Hazel…

I shook that thought off my mind. "We go to school together, dad. He's my Transfiguration partner."

I saw my dad's hand by his side twitch at the word 'partner'. This time I couldn't hold back a grin.

"So, you two only pair up in class?" my dad asked.

"Daddy, we're only class partners." I clarified. I didn't want to explain the whole enemies thing because even James Potter didn't deserve to be on my dad's bad side.

My dad looked a bit less tense, and when Potter saw this even he relaxed slightly. "She's right, sir, strictly class partners."

My dad finally backed off. That's when my mum walked in and I almost laugh at James' accusatory look. My mum noticed and she sent an apologetic grin behind my dad's back. I, however, was on Team Dad.

We then got to preparing everything for the barbeque and after about twenty minutes, everything was ready.

We ate and my parents got to know James better while I just scarfed down mouthfuls of food. I had no idea where the sudden hunger was coming from. Maybe it was only because the barbeque was so good. I barely listened to the questions my parents challenged Potter with. They were mostly things I knew about the wizarding world, anyway. Every answer Potter gave them seemed to astound them more and more. Suddenly, Potter jumped up from his seat.

"I should get going now." He said.

My mother jumped up as well. "No, it's fine. It's no bother, really."

"My mother is probably wondering where I am." He tried explaining.

"Oh, but it can't be too late." She looked at her wrist watch. "Oh, maybe you should go. It's getting late."

Potter said his thank you's and goodbye's to my parents and was about to leave when he turned to me. "See you at school, Lily."

"Mm-hm." I said past a mouthful. My mother scolded me after he left, but Potter had actually looked amused at the time.

A few minutes of peaceful silence later and my mum finally rounded on me, grinning.

"He's such a dear. And the way he looks at you is so adorable! Have you considered dating him?"

My dad jumped in while I was choking. "Yeah, he was okay."

Dad! Why!

When I could finally breathe I answered. "Yeah, I'm leaving now."

My mum rolled her eyes at me and her and dad bit me a good night.

I went up to my bedroom and expected a letter from Potter. When I didn't see one, I sat down on my bed and read for a while. 'A while' turned into a longer time than expected. It was already eleven so I got up and went to my bathroom to get ready for bed.

After five minutes I walked out of the bathroom and towards my bed. As expected, my letter was there.

Dear Lily,

Had a great dinner today. You can only imagine how delicious the food was. I had a great time. I hope you had a great time today as well.

Love,

James

I rolled my eyes. He was so cheesy at times.

I pulled the covers over me as I lay down on my bed. For me it was bedtime, so I would write him a response tomorrow.

Right now, I could only hope that I would dream of my hazel eyed stag.


	5. Chapter 5 (Part 1)

…I have no excuse for not writing in a while. I'm so sorry to all of you guys that follow this story. Don't be mad.

Chapter Five (part 1)

I gazed out the window behind my dad. It was a great morning. The sun was bright and it wasn't too hot. I looked at my dad. He was reading this morning's paper. The date on the far right corner read: September 1st.

Yeah. It was time to go back to Hogwarts. This summer was pretty uneventful after going to my aunt's house. My little cousin hadn't been any trouble. It had actually been a bit fun. I loved staying at my aunt's.

But nothing could ever compare to Hogwarts.

"More bacon, Lily?" my mother asked with a smile.

I smiled back. "No, thanks."

She turned back to her stove and I went back to my thoughts.

I hadn't seen my sister at all this summer. Nor was I going to see her. She left very early this morning before my parents had woken up. I bet it was to avoid talking to me.

I had heard from my friends, though. The Marauders were all at James' house. Except Peter. He had to go with his mother to his grandmother's funeral. I had felt bad for him until Remus explained that Peter never knew his grandmother in one of his letters.

Clair and Jenn had just arrived from Italy about two weeks ago. They had done their shopping for our new supplies for Hogwarts three days ago.

I had done mine yesterday. I was ready to go. I had my trunk in back of my dad's car and my owl, Marble, was currently on the living room couch, just watching me with her steady eyes.

My dad stood and grunted a bit. "Well, time to go or we'll be late." My mother automatically turned off the stove and took the pan off. She went to the loo to freshen up a bit one more time before we left. My dad went out and cranked up the car. I coaxed Marble into her cage and carried her out. I got into the back of the car and saw my mum lock the door behind her as she finally came out.

"Let's go." She said as she got in and buckled her seat belt.

I gave the house one final look before we drove off.

We got to the train station just in time. There were only five minutes left as I hugged my parents one more time and bit them farewell.

"Do take care of yourself, dear." My mother said as she gave me a tight hug.

"I will." I promised with a smile.

My dad hugged me even tighter than my mum had. "Let me know if any one causes you any trouble."

"Of course." I knew he was referring to boys.

I grinned at them both. "Love you!" I began to walk away.

"We love you too, Lily!" my mother called.

I ran through the barrier that brought me to the platform. Platform 9 ¾ never looked as exciting as it did now. It was so full of witches and wizards. The first years looking nervous, the seventh years looking happy to be in their final year , and the rest looked like they were glad and familiar with the place.

I was a bit sad. This was my final year. It was time to take class more seriously and learn as much as could before it was time to go. I would become an auror. It was a dangerous job, but doing it would give me so much satisfaction to know that I was helping many people and stopping the evil. Voldemort would not take over.

I rushed to an entrance to the train and heaved my trunk on. I was about to start dragging when a sixth year boy offered me some help. He looked pretty strong as he grabbed one end of the trunk and looked at me to lead the way. I started walking and I finally met the compartment that had my friend in it.

"Lily!" Clair yelled. She pulled me into a tight hug and I laughed at how excited she was.

"Hey, guys." I said as Jenn and Alice also hugged me.

"Lilykins!" I heard someone else yell. I turned around to the entrance to see Natalie. Over the summer her hair had gotten a bit lighter.

I laughed and hugged her as well.

I thanked the sixth year boy as he put my trunk on a rack and he left.

I sat down with my friends and we immediately began to catch up.

"Oh, Lily! You should've been there. There were soooo many hot guys. It was almost too much!" Clair sighed.

"I laughed. "Yeah?"

"Lucky you! I had to train the entire summer in the blistering heat. Soccer was intense. But I guess it was worth it." Alice chimed in.

"What about you, Natalie? What did you do?" Jenn asked her.

"Nothing too exciting. I didn't see many hot guys. I just went to the Mediterranean on a cruise for a while, then I stayed the rest of the summer at our summer house in France." She explained.

"Still more exciting than my summer." I said. "I stayed at my aunt's the entire summer babysitting my little cousin. It wasn't too bad, though. My cousin isn't whiney and my aunt lives along the seacoast." I shrugged.

"Not too bad." Alice agreed.

Suddenly, someone burst through the compartment door. "There are my girls!"

"Frank!" Alice launched herself right into his arms and his him hard.

He all chuckled at her enthusiasm and as soon as she broke away, so did Frank.

"I missed you too." He said grinning.

She smiled and hugged him one more time before letting go. "Sit with us."

He shrugged and sat down next to Alice. "Let's hope the guys don't start looking for me."

And right on cue the Marauders came along.


End file.
